MACOMB, IL – A new public art install recently took place on The Ice House Macomb, which brings Macomb's mural count to 15 (and another retired professor's work that's currently underway will soon bring that count to 16).
Created by Western Illinois University Art Professor Emeritus Bill Howard, the 12 x 56 mural features some of Macomb's key annual events: the Balloon Rally (with the balloons highlighting the mural sponsors), Heritage Days and Car Cruise, with other features that demonstrate peace, love and hope for the rural Midwestern community. In addition to this latest public art project, another mural focusing on the county's Underground Railroad history, which will be installed in the Thomas C. Carper Amtrak Station, is underway by WIU Art Professor Emeritus Michael Mahoney. He is also the artist behind the creation of the C.T. Vivian mural on the northeast side of the square, across from The Lamoine. The Community News Brief will talk to Mahoney in the coming weeks about his latest project.
Howard said his latest mural came about like most of the others he has done around town: someone approached him about wanting to do another mural, and just like that, the project was off and running.
'Macomb resident and Macomb Alderperson John Vigezzi said he liked my work and wanted to do another mural, so he worked on getting the funding, which is the hardest part, and we also received a Performing Arts Society Community Arts Grant to get this off the ground,' Howard explained. 'John's idea was to incorporate elements of Macomb, so I started the rendering and got to work.'
According to Vigezzi, as Macomb, and more specifically, Howard, started placing murals around the community, he thought a mural in another high traffic area would be a great addition for the city.
'Words cannot really express how impressed and excited I am about the finished mural. Bill and many of the volunteers who helped paint this mural did such an outstanding job,' Vigezzi said. 'This mural truly highlights our wonderful community. The overall collaboration from so many people truly helped make this vision come alive. That's one of the great things about living in Macomb … if you have something you want to do, there are always people willing to help make it a reality.'
Work on the 'Love, Hope & Peace' mural, titled because it contains elements of those three values, started in February, with Howard and volunteers painting on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. When school was out – and Howard was officially a retiree – he began painting every day.
'A lot of people helped, but I really want to give a shout out to Kat Myers and Carrie Depoy as they were with me every step of the way,' Howard shared. 'A lot of my friends wanted to help as well, so I'd put them to work.
'The more people who are involved, the better the message and the outcome.
Volunteers help paint the new piece of art. Progress photos Courtesy of Macomb Downtown Facebook
There's a lot of pride in working on this together,' he added. 'And it's a big deal for me to include everyone. This belongs to the community and brings people together in more ways than one.'
In addition to those who helped paint the sections, people like Troy Rhoads, Scott Coker, Sam Moran and Dan Meyers came out on May 24 to help with the nearly eighthour install on The Ice House building.
'These projects are a lot of work, but they're also a lot of fun.
I get to meet and work with a lot of people, and it's really neat to see others get involved,' he pointed out. 'And it's refreshing to see this. We're not at odds with one another, we're just doing something together for our community.'
This isn't Howard's first rodeo with public art projects in Macomb. He created the 'Rocky on Parade' project in 2103, which resulted in 134 Rocky statues installed throughout Macomb and WIU's Macomb and Quad Cities campuses, and his first mural in town, The Old Dairy mural on the business' north wall, was installed in Summer 2019. His work can also be found on the side of the Sports Corner, featuring WIU and area high school athletics memories; the southwest side of WIU's Hanson Field bleachers, which honors the armed forces, and on the north side of Gelsosomo's is the Macomb Beautiful mural that was created in Summer 2022.
